1 Janis Cimze, ‘Dseesmu rohta jaunekleem un wihreem (Preekschrunnas weetâ)’, Latviešu avīzes/ Baznicas un skolas zinas (21 April 1871), 33–5. Orthographic reforms in the 1920s resulted in the replacement of the phonetic German system of spelling previously used in Latvian-language publications with a system that uses a modified Roman orthography similar to that employed in many other Eastern European languages (for instance, Latweeschu in the German phonetic, Latviešu in the modified Roman). In the present article, I have rendered proper nouns in their modern form, but have left all other citations as they appear in the original sources. I have also used those names of the Baltic Russian gubernii that were most commonly employed by members of the culturally dominant Baltic German community in the nineteenth century: Livland, Kurland and Estland. Variants include Liefland, Livonia and Vidzeme; and Courland and Kurzeme. All dates are given according to the Julian ('Old Style') calendar. Unless otherwise noted, all translations in this article are my own.Google Scholar

2 Carl Dahlhaus, Nineteenth-Century Music, trans. J. Bradford Robinson (Berkeley and Los Angeles, 1989), 108. For a detailed consideration of this movement (especially its leading figures and political implications) see Dieter Düding, Organisierter gesellschaftlicher Nationalismus in Deutschland (1808–1847): Bedeutung und Funktion der Turner- und Sängervereine für die Nationalbewegung (Munich, 1984). Aesthetic ideals associated with the movement are examined in David Gramit, Cultivating Music: The Aspirations, Interests, and Limits of German Musical Culture, 1770–1848 (Berkeley and Los Angeles, 2002), chapters 3 and 4; and Dahlhaus, Nineteenth-Century Music, 47–8 and 105–11.Google Scholar

3 ‘Par dseedaşchanas beedribu waijadsibahm Turraidâ şarunnajotees, Widsemmes skohlmeistru şapulze 1869. gaddâ pahrleezinajahs, ka bez ihpaşchas dseeşmu grahmatas newarroht istikt. Aiskraukles draudses-skohlmeistara, Bankina kunga, padohmu peen̦emdami, wişşi şaweenojahs preekşch muhşu dseedatajeem derrigas Wahzeeşchu laizigas dseeşmas şalaşşiht, un man peeşuhtiht, lai warretu drik̦k̦eht. Pirmajs gads aisgahja ar şalaşşişchanu un norakstişchanu. Şcho darbu usn̦ehmees nahkamâ şapulzê 1870. gaddâ kahdas 50 dseeşmas warreju preekşchâ likt. Bet te nu arr atsinnahm, ka darbs tik puşşê darrihts. Jo, kà bij palikt ar Latweeşchu tautas-dseeşmahm? Wai tahs bij pawişşam ja-atmett, kà tauta patti darrijuşi? Wai jausn̦emm tahdas paşchas plikkas un kailas weenâ balşa dseedamas, kâ wezzâ laikâ dseedaja? Wai gaidiht, kamehr kahdam wehl nesinnamam komponistam patikşşees win̦n̦as us 4 balşim şalikt? Bija redsams, ka pehz mas gaddeem nebuhs no Latw. wezzeem meldin̦eem ne şmakkas. Te newarreja kawetees.‘ Jānis Cimze, Dziesmu rota jaunekl̦iem un vīriem (Leipzig, 1872), ii, 125.Google Scholar

4 It should be noted that although the first collection of harmonized Russian folksongs was published as early as 1790 (Nikolai Alexandrovich Lvov's Sobraniye narodnïkh russkikh pesen s ikh golosami, with keyboard harmonizations by Johann Gottfried Pratsch), neither Cimze nor his Baltic contemporaries appear to have been familiar with this work. On Lvov and his collection, see Taruskin, Richard, ‘N. A. Lvov and the Folk’, Defining Russia Musically: Historical and Hermeneutical Essays (Princeton, 1997), 3–24.Google Scholar

5 In his posthumously published Stimmen der Völker in Liedern (1806), Herder made use of this analogy to describe his displeasure at the attempts of some to evaluate the aesthetic worth of the folksong ('Feldblume') according to the same standards commonly applied to newly composed music or poetry: ‘Ich sah leider beim ersten Theil welche armselige Gestalt die gute Feldblume mache, wenn sie nun im Gartenbeet des weißen Papiers dasteht und vom honetten Publicum durchaus als Schmuck- und Kaiserblume beäuget, zerflickt und zergliedert werden soll, wie gern und inständig sie dieses verbäte!’ Johann Gottfried Herder, Stimmen der Völker in Liedern, Herders sämmtliche Werke, 16 (Stuttgart and Tübingen, 1852), 71.Google Scholar

6 No detailed study of Cimze or his work has been published in the post-Soviet period; for a brief biographical consideration see Latviešu rakstnieciba biografijas, ed. Anita Rožkalne (Riga, 2003), 124–5. Among Soviet-era studies see, for instance, Lidija Lūse, ‘Jānis Cimze un vin̦a laikmets’, Latviešu mūzika, 6 (1967), 127–44; Jekabs Vītolin̦š and Lija Krasinska, Latviešu mūzikas vesture (Riga, 1972), i, esp. pp. 171–8; Dzidra Bērzin̦a, ‘Janis Cimze’, Latviešu muzika, 10 (1973), 90–109; Jekabs Vītolin̦š, ‘Istoricheskie korni muzïkal'noy kul'turï Sovetskoy Latvii’, Muzïkal'naya kul'tura Latviyskoy SSR, ed. Arvids Darkevics and Jekabs Vitolin̦š (Moscow, 1976), 7–47; and N. Gryunfel'd (Nilss Grinfelds), Istoriya latïshskoy muzïki (Moscow, 1978), esp. pp. 13–15.Google Scholar

7 Thaden, Edward C., Russia's Western Borderlands, 1710–1870 (Princeton, 1984), 98. Other important English-language studies of eighteenth- and nineteenth-century Baltic history include David Kirby, The Baltic World 1772–1993: Europe's Northern Periphery in an Age of Change (London and New York, 1995), and Russification in the Baltic Provinces and Finland, 1855–1914, ed. Edward C. Thaden (Princeton, 1981). For a more detailed consideration of specifically Latvian cultural history see Plakans, Andrejs, The Latvians: A Short History (Stanford, 1995).Google Scholar

8 Among Erk's contributions are the Deutscher Liederhort, a collection of 2,175 German folksong melodies posthumously published under the direction of Franz Böhme (Leipzig, 1893; repr. Hildesheim and Wiesbaden, 1963), and the Allgemeines deutsches Commersbuch, a collection of harmonized German folk and folk-like melodies co-edited with Friedrich Silcher (18th edn, Lahr, 1875). On the pedagogical theories of Nägeli and Pestalozzi, see Gramit, Cultivating Music, 96–103.Google Scholar

9 On the founding of the Livland Teachers' Seminar, see Vija Daukšte, ‘Latviešu tautskolas veidošanās’, Latvija 19. gadsimtā: Vestures apceres, ed. Jānis Bērzin̦š (Riga, 2000), 261–90; and C. Peterson, I. Bach and E. Inselberg, Das ritterschaftliche Parochiallehrer-Seminar in Walk, seine Lehrer und Zöglinge: 1839–1890 (Riga, 1898).Google Scholar

10 ‘Nation of Singers’: in Latvian, ‘dziedātājtauta’ – from ‘dziedatajs’ (singer) and ‘tauta’ (equivalent to the German ‘Volk’ or the Russian ‘narod'). On the origins of this term in the work of the nineteenth-century Latvian poet Auseklis and the persistence of this image in the Baltic cultural and political discourse of the pre- and post-Soviet periods see Bula, Dace, ‘The Singing Nation: The Tradition of Latvian Folksongs and the Self-Image of the Nation’, Humanities and Social Sciences Latvia, 11 (1996), 4–32; and idem, Dziedatajtauta: Folklora un nacionala ideolo&ginvaps;ija (Riga, 2000).Google Scholar

11 On both the persistence and the manipulation of ‘Nation of Singers’ imagery in the Baltic cultural dialogue during the period of Soviet rule, see Guntis Šmidchens, ‘A Baltic Music: The Folklore Movement in Lithuania, Latvia, and Estonia, 1968–1991’ (Ph.D. dissertation, Indiana University, 1996). Among the many journalistic accounts of the ‘reawakening’ of Baltic national consciousness during the ‘Singing Revolution’ of 1988–91, the most comprehensive is probably Clare Thompson, The Singing Revolution: A Political Journey through the Baltic States (London, 1992).Google Scholar

12 Romuald Misiunas and Rein Taagepera, The Baltic States: Years of Dependence 1940–1990 (Berkeley and Los Angeles, 1993), 1.Google Scholar

13 ‘Paganu semme irr tas leels, leels tukşneşis, kur Jesus tas labbais gans gribb no-eet un mekleht un swehtu darriht’. ‘St.’, ‘Par paganu atgreeschanu’, Latviešu avīzes/Miziones zin̦as (19 July), 1–2, and (2 August 1862), 2–3 (19 July, p. 1).Google Scholar

14 For surveys of comments recorded by seventeenth- and eighteenth-century Lutheran pastors regarding ceremonial singing among Latvian-speaking peasants, see Vītolin̦š and Krasinska, Latviešu mūzikas vēsture, i, 68–76; and Andrejs Johansons, Latvijas kultūras vēsture 1710–1800 (Stockholm, 1975), 406–14.Google Scholar

15 ‘Kad tie sarīko savas kāzas, tie lieto savādas un dīvainas ceremonijas… . Pie tam dzied tik nešk̦īstas, netiklas un vieglprātīgas dziesmas savā valodā, dienu un nakti bez mitas, ka pats sātans tās nespētu izdomāt un izpildīt nešk̦īstākas un bezkaunīgākas.‘ Cited in Vītolin̦š and Krasinska, Latviešu mūzikas vēsture, i, 72.Google Scholar

16 ‘Daž teva, daža māte paši nezina dievu pielūgt, ne dieva dziesmas dziedāt, gavilē tikai no savas māmulītes un no savu kumelinju. Ko tād tadi var saviem bērniem mācīt?‘ Cited ibid.Google Scholar

17 ‘Lielu Jān̦a uguni iededzina; apkārt to tie lēkā cauru nakti dziedāmi kā kādās kāzās … .Visas tās lietas jir elkadievība.‘ Cited ibid., 73.Google Scholar

18 ‘Tās mudināja vin̦us kl̦ūt mīlīgiem ar saviem vecākiem, ar saviem kungiem un beidzot arī jūtīgiem pret dievu un reli&ginvaps;iju’. Cited ibid., 75. On Stender's several Latvian-language song-books, see Zigrīda Frīde, Latvis: Gothards Frīdrihs Stenders (Riga, 2003), 159–69.Google Scholar

19 Bernhards Dīrik̦is, ‘Kahds wahrds par dseedaschanu un dseeşmahm’, Pēterburgas avīzes, 1/ii (1862), 15.Google Scholar

20 Ulmann's term for the offending songs, ‘blēn̦u dziesmas’ ('blehn̦u-dseeşmas'), might more aptly be translated as ‘bullshit songs’ – songs whose message is not incomprehensible but rather worthless, misleading or corrupting.Google Scholar

21 ‘Mehs no tà dohmajam ka şchihs dseeşmin̦as dseedoht behrnu un wezzaku şirdis lohzisees us Deewam patihkamu preeku un us pateizibu par wişşahm win̦n̦a dahwanahm un labdarrişchanahm. To lai Deews nedohd, ka weens weenigs zilweks zaur to paliktu aiskawehts no şwehtu dseeşmu dseedaşchanas, bet to lai schehligi palihds, ka zaur to tahs dseeşmas l̦auşchu starpâ beidsahs, kas pateeşi par blehn̦u-dseeşmahm noşauzamas.‘ Carl Christian Ulmann, Dziesmin̦as latviešu bērniem un jaunekl̦iem (Riga, 1845), 1.Google Scholar

22 Weyrich, K. J., Dziesmu vainags mīl̦iem latviešu jaunekl̦iem un bērniem (Jelgava, 1859); Juris Caunītis, Dziesmu kronis (Riga, 1861).Google Scholar

23 ‘Şchurp Jahn̦a-behrni! / Deews tautas aplaimo. / Lai dseedam şkan̦n̦i: / Lihgo! Lihgo!‘ Juris Caunītis and Jānis Kaktin̦š, 100 dziesmas un zin̦&ginvaps;es ar notēm (Riga, 1858), 15–16.Google Scholar

24 ‘Gohdija dseeşmin̦u dseedaşchana irr beswainigs preeks, kas turklaht nekahdu naudu ne makşa, kà zitti preeki, pehz kur̦r̦eem daschureis behdas un şlimmiba nahk.’ ‘J. G.’, ‘Luhgşchana un usmuddinaşchana’, Latviešu avīzes (11 October 1862), 163.Google Scholar

25 Caunitīs, Dziesmu kronis, 80–1; Caunitīs and Kaktin̦š, 100 dziesmas un zin̦&ginvaps;es, 92–3.Google Scholar

26 ‘Akls aklam tatşchu ne warr zel̦l̦u rahdiht. – Şkohlmeistereem un mahzitajeem kristohs to darriht, un şkohlâs jeb basnizâs, ja mas, katru şwehtdeenu pehz Deewa kalpoşchanas, kahdas stundas dseedaht mahziht. Tee tad warretu tahs meldeijas arri wairak pee Deewa kalpoşchanas n̦emt dseedaht. Un tà tad l̦audis pamasam eerastu un eemihletu tahs wezzum wezzas, mihl̦as meldijas un win̦n̦u jauku un patihkamu dseedaşchanu, un atsihtu paşchi no şewis to taggadeju nepatihkamu un şalausitu meldiju gahnişchanu. – Ta taggadeja lausişchana, kà rahdahs, irr no nemahziteem eerahdita; nemahziti l̦autin̦i zits zittu taî taggadejâ dseedaşchanâ mahzijuşchi. Gohds, leels gohds teem par to!! – Nesinnaşchanas laiki rahdahs pahreijoşchi; laiks ir şchî leetâ irr zeltees un ne gulleht. Darrişim ar Deewa paligu to!’ ‘J. B.’, ‘Par dseedaşchanu’, Latviešu avizes/Baznīcas un skolas zin̦as (23 August 1862), 2–3.Google Scholar

27 Johann Abraham Peter Schulz, Gedanken über den Einfluß der Musik auf die Bildung eines Volks (Copenhagen, 1790), cited in Gramit, Cultivating Music, 70.Google Scholar

28 ‘L'harmonie est une sorte de lien entre l'ordre moral et la vie animale. Elle est un langage qui enseigne les sentiments doux et bienveillants; elle porte la sérénité dans l'esprit.’ Baron de Gérando, cited in Philippe Gumplowicz, ‘Le dossier “orphéon”: Musique et sociabilités’, Esthétiques du peuple, ed. Jacques Rancière (Paris and Saint-Denis, 1985), 55–76 (p. 61).Google Scholar

29 A recent examination of nineteenth-century populist-driven attempts at peasant enlightenment in Russian-speaking portions of the empire is provided in Orlando Figes, A People's Tragedy: The Russian Revolution, 1891–1924 (New York, 1997), 85–102. The classic treatment of peasant enlightenment in nineteenth-century France is Eugen Joseph Weber, Peasants into Frenchmen: The Modernization of Rural France, 1870–1914 (Stanford, 1976; the French orphéon or choral movement is considered on pp. 441–4). For a recent consideration of the intended civilizing mission of the German choral movement, see Gramit, Cultivating Music, 65–73.Google Scholar

30 In this respect, it should be noted, the situation in the Baltic also differed from that in other non-Russian parts of the empire. In Finland, for example, those who led the drive toward peasant enlightenment in the first half of the nineteenth century identified both themselves and the rural peoples whom they sought to educate as Finns rather than Russians or Swedes. On this issue, see Singleton, Fred, A Short History of Finland (Cambridge, 1998), 69–81.Google Scholar

31 The Baltic German Julius Eckardt, cited in Kirby, The Baltic World, 2.Google Scholar

32 Johann Gottfried Herder, ‘Ueber Ossian und die Lieder alter Völker: Auszug aus einigen Briefen’, repr. in Stimmen der Völker in Liedern, 5–38; see esp. pp. 12–16 (on the ‘wild, uncivilized folk’, cited at p. 14), 21–4 (on the emotional immediacy of folk poetry) and 28–32 (on the need to collect and preserve folksongs). Important studies that examine the relationship between Herder's work and emergent German nationalist ideologies include James J. Sheehan, German History, 1770–1860 (Oxford, 1989), esp. pp. 165–7 and 201–2; idem, ‘Nation und Staat: Deutschland als “imaginierte Gemeinschaft”’, Nation und Gesellschaft in Deutschland, ed. Manfred Hettling and Paul Nolte (Munich, 1996), 33–45; and Otto Dann, Nation und Nationalismus in Deutschland 1770–1990 (3rd edn, Munich, 1996), esp. pp. 53–5. For a consideration of Herder's views on Eastern Europe and its peoples, see Wolff, Larry, Inventing Eastern Europe: The Map of Civilization on the Mind of the Enlightenment (Stanford, 1994), esp. pp. 305–15; on Herder's impressions of the Baltic more specifically, see Šmidchens, ‘A Baltic Music’, 82–8. The impact of Herder's writings on the work of nineteenth-century Latvian cultural activists is considered in Bula, Dziedatajtauta, 50–3 and passim. For a recent look at the broader cultural and political implications of Herder's Volkslieder project, see Philip V. Bohlman, World Music: A Very Short Introduction (Oxford, 2002), 36–41.Google Scholar

33 On this subject, see Ojārs Zanders, Gadsimtu silueti Rīgas bru&ginvaps;akmen̦os (Riga, 2002), 144–53.Google Scholar

34 Merkel's tenure in Riga and the impact of his work upon the nineteenth-century Latvian nationalist movement is considered in Plakans, The Latvians, 76–8; and Zanders, Gadsimtu silueti, 153–64.Google Scholar

35 Garlieb Merkel, Die Letten vorzüglich in Liefland am Ende des philosophischen Jahrhunderts: Ein Beitrag zur Völker- und Menschenkunde (Leipzig, 1796); ed. Thomas Taterka (Wedemark, 1998). A typical statement of Merkel's views on the culturally validating power of Latvian folksong is found in chapter 1 of Die Letten ('Kurze Geschichte der Letten und allgemeine Schilderung derselben'): ‘Volkslieder, von dem ersten der sich dazu begeistert fühlte, angestimmt, verewigten die Thaten der Gefallenen, die oft noch im nächtlichen Mondstrahl ihre Hütten besuchten, und Segen in denselben verbreiteten. Man sieht aus diesen wenigen Zügen, die sich aus den alten Liedern und Chroniken zusammen lesen lassen, daß diese Völker grade auf dem Gränzpunkte standen, von dem aus, sie den Weg zu höherer Cultur beschreiten konnten, sobald eine andere Nation ihnen durch freundschaftlichen Verkehr die Hand bot. Sie hatten keinen eigentlichen Kunstfleiß, aber sie waren reich genug, die Produkte desselben erhandeln zu können und sie unter ihre Bedürfnisse aufzunehmen. Ihr Geist war nicht durch wissenschaftliche Kenntnisse gebildet; sie hatten weder bestimmte Gesetze, noch eine in Formen gedrängte Religion: aber dafür Verstand genug, das Bedürfniß derselben zu fühlen; Energie des Charakters, Scharfsinn, der den Mönchen oft in ihren Fragen beschwerlich fiel, und Anlagen zu allen bürgerlichen Tugenden, wie zu jeder Ausbildung des Geistes. Izt hätten sie vielleicht unter den Bewohnern Europens geglänzt; hätten schon ihre Kante, ihre Voltäre, ihre Wielande etc. gehabt und spielten eine wichtige Rolle im Reiche der Wissenschaften, wie im Reiche der Politik, wenn sie ihrem eignen Gange wären überlassen worden. Aber ihr trauriges Loos fiel anders’ (pp. 18–19).Google Scholar

36 On the Baltic German reaction to Merkel's work, see Zanders, Gadsimtu silueti, 160.Google Scholar

37 Gustav Bergmann, Erste Sammlung lettischer Sinngedichte (Ruien, 1807); ed. Heralds Biezais (Uppsala, 1961).Google Scholar

38 Gustav Bergmann, Zweyte Sammlung lettischer Sinn- oder Stegreifs-Gedichte (Ruien, 1808); ed. Heralds Biezais (Uppsala, 1967). Friedrich Wahr, Palsmaniešu dziesmu krajums (Ruien, 1808).Google Scholar

39 ‘Bey den Letten, einem einfach lebenden Volke, findt man Lieder und Sagen der Vorzeit, die ihnen heilig sind: und von denen ich glaube, dass wir sie bis jetzt übersehen haben. Ich habe einige dichterischen Ueberbleibsel, die sich durch mündliche Ueberlieferungen erhalten haben, gesammelet, ehe sie gänzlich austerben oder verlohren gehen.‘ Bergmann, Erste Sammlung, 99.Google Scholar

40 ‘Sprachforscher finden eine getreue Nachahmung der Natur, ganz verschieden von unserer steifen Buchweisheit, die wir diesem Volke aufgedrungen haben.‘ Ibid., 99–100.Google Scholar

41 ‘Erstlich und hauptsächlich wünschte ich diese eigenthümliche und bisher wenig bekannte Volkspoesie dem Publikum zugänglich zu machen. Zweitens finde ich, daß unsere Zeit die dringende Forderung stellt, den Letten selbst den Schatz ihrer einzigen nationalen Geistesproduction zu retten, den der Druck der Umstände mit dem allmähligen Untergange bedroht, wie denn schon jetzt der Volksgesang in manchen Gegenden fast ganz verstummt ist. Drittens endlich sollte den Sprachforchern eine Quelle echt lettischen Sprachstudiums eröffnet werden.‘ Georg Friedrich Büttner, Latviešu l̦aužu dziesmas un zin̦&ginvaps;es (Jelgava, 1844), iv.Google Scholar

42 ‘Paldees Deewam, kas to jaunu l̦auschu prahtu mohdinajis, ka tee pehz mahzibas un gudribas dsennahs, un zaur muhşu wallodu no Wahzeescheem labbas mahzibas gribb peen̦emt! Bet man to gresnu dseeşmu schehl, kas tiks aismirstas, un kas par gaddu gaddeem kà akkà buhs eekrittuşchas, un neweens no win̦n̦ahm neko wairs ne sinnahs teikt. Tahdehl̦ jau weenreis şahku, win̦n̦us grahmatâ şalikt… . Woi tu, mihl̦ais lassitajs pee schi darba man negribbi palihgs buht? Ta irr manna luhgschana. Woi ne gribbi palihdseht şcho Latweeşchu l̦auschu gohdu un garrigu mantu isglahbt, kamehr wehl win̦n̦u warr glahbt?’ Georg Friedrich Büttner, ‘Luhgşchana Latweeşcheem Kursemmê un Widsemmê’, Latviešu avīzes/Baznīcas zin̦as (24 April 1858), 1–3 (p. 2).Google Scholar

43 ‘Jo pehz mannu sinnaşchanu un prahtu tik gresnas dseeşmin̦as neweenâ zittâ wallodâ naw atrohnamas.’ Büttner, ‘Luhgşchana Latweeşcheem Kursemmê un Widsemmê’, 3.Google Scholar

44 ‘Wie nun der Thau den Wald in ein festliches Gewand kleidet und auch wol gar dürren Zweigen einen Schmuck verleihen kann, so giebt die Dşeesma dem Leben der Letten eine Glorie, eine Weihe, wie sie meines Wissens in diesem Umfange keine andere Nation aufzuweisen haben möchte.’ Georg Friedrich Büttner, ‘Das lettische Volkslied’, Baltische Monatsschrift, 23 (1874), 545–56 (p. 546). It is possible that Büttner is borrowing from Herder in this passage; in the concluding pages of his Volkslieder (1778–9), Herder wrote: ‘ich könnte sehr beredt seyn, wenn ich von dem Nutzen schwätzen wollte, den manche verdorrte Zweige unsrer Poesie aus diesen unansehnlichen Thautropfen fremder Himmelswolken ziehen könnten’ (cited in Šmidchens, ‘A Baltic Music’, 88).Google Scholar

45 Portions of Ulmann's unpublished collection of Latvian folksong texts are preserved in the Rare Book and Manuscript Section of the Latvian National Library in Riga (Latvijas Nacionalas Bibliotekas Reto Gramatu un Rokrakstu Nodal̦a), File R x 57, 2.Google Scholar

46 ‘Müde von dem Weltgetriebe, / Von des Lobens Heut und Morgen, / Müde von des Tages Freude, / Müde von des Tages Sorge, / Trat ich in den lenzesfrischen / Wald mit seinen grünen Büschen.‘ Karl Konrad Ulmann, Lettische Volkslieder übertragen im Versmass der Originale (Riga, 1874), v.Google Scholar

47 ‘Vögel sind die Musikanten, / Und in ungebund'ner Freude / Tanzen und ergehn im Walde / Sich die freien Hochzeitsleute; / Bächlein murmelt mit im Chor, / Und am Waldsee rauscht das Rohr.‘ Ibid., vi.Google Scholar

48 ‘Doch mich zieht's zum Fischerhäuschen! / Drinnen sitzen an den Rädchen, / In dem wohlerwärmten Stübchen, / Fleißigfrische junge Mädchen, / Wie sie emsig drehn und spinnen, / Daß den Brautschatz sie gewinnen! // Und am Webstuhl sitzt die Mutter; / Lied auf Lied klingt in die Runde, / Und von Allem, was ich schaute, / Gaben mir die Lieder Kunde! – / Treuen Nachklang solcher Lieder / Gibt euch frisch mein Büchlein wieder.‘ Ibid., x.Google Scholar

49 For a classic treatment of this subject, see Edward W. Said, Orientalism (New York, 1979).Google Scholar

50 Dahlhaus, Nineteenth-Century Music, 108. On the ‘philanthropic’ tendencies that Herder considered to underlie his own work as a cultural activist, see also Sheehan, German History, 201.Google Scholar

51 The foregoing discussion in this paragraph is based upon Plakans, The Latvians, 81–7; Toivo U. Raun, Estonia and the Estonians (Stanford, 2001), 45–9; Russia: A History, ed. Gregory L. Freeze (Oxford and New York, 1997), 171–80; and Thaden, Russia's Western Borderlands, 107–12 and 183–6.Google Scholar

52 See Thaden, Russia's Western Borderlands, 218–30, and Singleton, A Short History of Finland, 78–81.Google Scholar

53 See Jerzy Lukowski and Hubert Zawadzki, A Concise History of Poland (Cambridge, 2001), 146–51.Google Scholar

54 On the rise of a Latvian-language press and the contributions of the St Petersburg Slavophile community, see Edward C. Thaden, ‘The Russian Government’, Russification in the Baltic Provinces and Finland, ed. Thaden, 35–9; and Andrejs Plakans, ‘The Latvians’, ibid., 220–6.Google Scholar

55 Its Estonian counterpart, Perno Postimees (The Pärnu Courier) was founded the following year.Google Scholar

56 ‘Ikweenai tautai irr stahsti un dseeşmas, kas l̦auschu widdû zehluşchahs un kà katram tautas lohzekl̦im preederriga manta mutti no muttes eet un weenumehr daudsinatas tohp. Wişswairak zehlas şchadas dseeşmin̦as win̦n̦ôs laikôs, kur l̦audis şawâ wallâ wehl weenteeşigi ar dabbu beedrojahs, no win̦n̦as şawus preekus un behdas baudija… . Wahzu un zittahm tautahm irr dauds tahdu jauku dseeşmu şakrahtu, jo mahziti wihri no l̦audim noklauşijuşchees tahs ussihmeja preekşch tam gahdadami, lai şchi dahrga wezztehwu peemin̦n̦a ne muhscham nesustu. Muhşu tautas dseeşmas gan mas wehl eekrahtas un dauds deemschehl ar laiku pawişşam no l̦auschu muttehm sudduşchas un aismirstas.’ Krišjanis Barons, ‘Iggaun̦u tautas dseeşmas’, Mājas viesis (18 February 1857), 55.Google Scholar

57 Jekabs Zvaigznite, ‘Par Latweeşchu tautas-dseeşmahm’, Sēta, daba, pasaule, 3 (1860), 1–48.Google Scholar

58 ‘Suhrineeku dseeşmas’, Pēterburgas avīzes, 3/xxiv (1864), 46–8.Google Scholar

59 Fricis Brivzemnieks, O narodnoy poezii latïshey, Sbornik antropologicheskikh i etnograficheskikh statey o Rossii i stranakh, 2 (Moscow, 1873). For further discussion of early Latvian-led efforts to collect Latvian folksong texts and melodies, see Bula, Dziedatajtauta, 59–60 and 105–10; and Mara Viksna, ‘The History of the Collection of Folklore in Latvia’, Humanities and Social Sciences Latvia, 11 (1996), 85–101.Google Scholar

60 ‘Tik lihds şchee nemeerigi laiki bij stahjuşchees, tik lihds pastahwigu walstibu bij eetaişijuşchi, tuhliht arr jaw, lai tehwu tehwu darbi behrnu behrneem peemin̦n̦â paliktu, wezzi notikkumi nahza tautas behrnu muttê. Tee tikka dseedati un şlaweti no tehwi us dehlu un no dehla us dehla-dehlu. Wişşur, wişşur dsirdeja wezzus notikkumus, leelus warenus darbus şkandinoht. Katra Wahzeeşchu jaunekl̦a aşşins şkrehja ahtraki, katra şirds puksteja augstaki. Kad par şchk̦ehpeem un sohbeneem dseedaja, tad şchk̦ehpu un sohbenu jaunekl̦am şan̦ehmuşcham wezzu tehwu darbus apdseedoht prahts ar us to dsinnahs, wezzu tehwu darbus isdarriht, dehla dehls gribbeja tehwu tehweem lihdsinatees. Kahda drohşchiba, kahda ustizziba katram şirdî nenahze, kad eedomaja un warreja şazzit: es peederru pee weenas warenas tautas. Manni tehwu tehwi irr warrenus darbus pastrahdajuşchi; kapehz es to paşchu newarru isdarriht? Tà dseedaja Wahzeeşchi, tà dsihwoja Wahzeeşchi preekşch 600 un wairak gaddeem.’ Zvaigznite, ‘Par Latweeşchu tautas-dseeşmahm’, 9–10.Google Scholar

61 ‘Tautas-dseeşmas leela dahrga mantu, un ja weena tauta şcho mantu labbi naw paglabbajuşi, tad ta wairs naw tauta şauzama… . Es tik gribbeju praşşiht: Latweeschi, kur juhs şawas tautas dseeşmas likkat? Kurrôs kappôs juhs win̦n̦as aprakkat? Woi jums nebij wihru, ko juhs warretu apdseedaht? woi tee nedarrija darbu, ko behrnu-behrni warretu dseeşmâs şkandinaht? Turraidas kalni, woi jums neweenas atbalşs naw, wezzu laiku notikkumus şkandinaht? Daugawa, Gauja, Wente, woi juhs tehwu-tehwu darbu şlawu ar şlaweem wil̦n̦eem juhrâ aisneşşat?’ Zvaigznite, ‘Par Latweeşchu tautas-dseeşmahm’, 11–12.Google Scholar

62 Sheehan, ‘Nation und Staat’, 35–7 (p. 35).Google Scholar

63 The classic study of the connections between literacy, the vernacular press and emergent national consciousness is Benedict Anderson, Imagined Communities: Reflections on the Origin and Spread of Nationalism (rev. edn, London and New York, 1991). Also see Eric J. Hobsbawm, Nations and Nationalism since 1780: Programme, Myth, Reality (2nd edn, Cambridge, 1992), esp. chapter 2.Google Scholar

64 Caunitis and Kaktin̦š's 100 Songs and Tunes with Notes (1858) includes five unharmonized Latvian folksong melodies (tunes 36–40).Google Scholar

65 On the network of friends and students upon which Cimze relied to collect his materials, see Berzina, ‘Janis Cimze’, 96–7. For an example of an early call to Latvian-speaking readers of The Home-Visitor to collect and send folksong melodies to the Dorpat (now Tartu, Estonia) Teachers' Seminar, see Atis Kronvalds and Frīdrihs Hermanis Lange, ‘Luhgşchana’, Mājas viesis (20 May 1868), 167.Google Scholar

66 ‘Newarreja un newarreja atstaht neusn̦emtas şchahs şihkahs puk̦k̦ites, kas tà mihligi un pasemmigi şkattahs azzîs. Bija un bija tahs japinn krohnî, lai paleek par ihpaşchu rohtu, ar ko Latweeşchu dsihwi warretu puşchkoht.’ Jānis Cimze, ‘Dseeşmu rohta jaunekl̦eem un wihreem’, Majas viesis (1 May 1871), 140.Google Scholar

67 ‘Latweeti! Şchè nu irr wezzu tehwu weeniga wezzu wezza manta, kas tew rahda, kà win̦n̦i preezajuşchees, kà win̦n̦i behdajuşchees. Wai man nu isdewees şcho mehşlôs gulledamu, aismirstu mantu leetâ likt un gohdâ zelt, wai tu to atsihşi par şawu ihpaşchumu, wai şazzişi: tas irr kauls no manneem kauleem, ta irr meeşa no mannahm meeşahm.’ Cimze, ‘Dseeşmu rohta jaunekleem un wihreem’, 141. Cimze's citation in this passage is from Genesis ii. 23. Dace Bula has identified three other sources (she does not include Cimze's essay) in the late nineteenth-century Latvian literature that make use of this biblical passage in order to characterize the relationship between the Latvian people and their traditional musics; see Bula, Dziedatajtauta, 64.Google Scholar

68 Cimze, Dziesmu rota, ii, 1 (‘J. S.‘, Rekruhşcha dseeşma).Google Scholar

69 See, for instance, Ol̦&ginvaps;erts Grāvītis, Jāzeps Vītols un latviešu tautas dziesma (Riga, 1958), 76–8; for a contrary view, see Bērzin̦a, ‘Jānis Cimze’, 102–9.Google Scholar

70 Cimze, Dziesmu rota, ii, 27–8 (Cimze, Dsihwoj' pee kundsin̦a).Google Scholar

71 ‘Puişchi meitas apşuhdseja / şupurdentem Jelgawâ. // Tohs aisdsinna us ku&ginvaps;&ginvaps;ehm; / No ku&ginvaps;&ginvaps;ehm us Wahzsemmi. // Tur teem likka puppas malt, / Dsirnaw’ puşşê mugguru.' Ibid., 18 (Cimze, Puişchi meitas apşuhdseja).Google Scholar

72 ‘Wakkar gahja diw’ bahlin̦i / gar juhrinu spehledami: / şchodeen' nahza trihs mahşin̦as / gar juhrinu raudadam'. // Ai, juhs juhras sweineezin̦i, / Wai redsejaht muhş’ bahlin̦us? / Ai, Widsemmes seltenites, / Kahdi bija juhş’ bahlin̦'? // Ai juhs juhras sweineezin̦i, / Tahdi bija muhş bahlini: / Dseltaneemi mattin̦eemi, / Şarkaneemi waidsin̦eemi. // Ai, Widsemmes seltenites, / Win̦n̦’ gul̦l̦ juhras dibbinajê, / Şmiltis win̦n̦u kaulus bahle, / Uhdens mattus pluddina. // Ak, juhs juhras sweineezin̦i, / Welkat win̦n̦us mallinajê, / Welkat win̦n̦us mallinajê, / Nohkat winnus şmiltinâs. // Ai, Widsemmes seltenites, / Ko tad juhs mums makşaşeeti? / Weenam dohşchu linnu kreklu, / Ohtram sihschu nehsdozin̦'. // Treşcham dohşchu şaw' rohzin̦u, / Sawu selta gredseninu, / Un es patti padohşchohs / Pehz laimites likkuma.‘ Cimze, Dziesmu rota, ii, 56–7 (Cimze, Wakkar gahja diw’ bahlin̦i).Google Scholar

73 Ibid., 8 (‘A. K.‘, Tur es dsehru, tur man tihkahs).Google Scholar

74 ‘Pee Deewa gribbu buht, / Bet newarru peekl̦uht; / Gar waigu aşşaras / Kà sirn̦u graudi birst. // Jau ohtru treşchu deen’ / Sahk swanniht basnizâ; / Jau l̦audis waizaht şahk, / Wai kahdu lihk̦i raks? // To meitu şchodeen raks, / Kas behdâs nomirruş‘. / Laid manni luhkotees, / Kà win̦n̦a apgehrbta. // Ar baltahm drehbitehm, / Ar mellu dek̦k̦iti. / Dohd’ aşşu nasi, dohd! / Lai pahrşchk̦ell mannu şird'. // Lai mann azs nereds, / Lai manna auşs nedsird, / Lai manna auşs nedsird, / Lai manna şirds neşahp.' Ibid., 48–9 (Cimze, Es nabags bahra behrns).Google Scholar

75 ‘Sitt, Jahniti, warrabungas, / lihgo, lihgo, / wahrtu stabba gallinâ – / lihgo, lihgo!'; ‘Wişşeem wahrti appuşchkoti, / lihgo, lihgo, / nahburgami nepuşchkoti, / lihgo, lihgo!'; ‘Jahn̦a mahte şeeru şehja, / lihgo, lihgo, / dewin̦eemi ştuhrişcheemi, / lihgo, lihgo!’ Cimze, Dziesmu rota, ii, 86–9 (Cimze, Jahn̦a-dseeşma daschadôs meldinôs).Google Scholar

76 On the structure and political significance of all-German song festivals held throughout the nineteenth century, see Düding, Organisierter gesellschaftlicher Nationalismus. On the Baltic German song festivals held in Riga and Reval, Estland (now Tallinn, Estonia), in the 1850s and 1860s, See Millers, F., ‘Baltvacu kordziedašanas tradiciju parmantošana’, Latvijas PSR zinātn̦u akademijas vestis, ser. A, 44/6 (1990), 29–33.Google Scholar

77 Rihards Tomsons, ‘Sin̦as par Latweeşchu dseedatajeem un win̦u pirmeem wispahrigeem dseedaşchanas-şwehtkeem’, in the commemorative booklet Pirmie vispārigie Latviešu dsiedāšanas svētki Rigā, no 26ta līdz 29tam jūnijam 1873 (Riga, 1873), 24. The score of Cimze's Jān̦a Song (Jān̦a-dseeşma) is provided on pp. 62–5 of the commemorative booklet; it is identical to the composer's Jān̦a Song Set to Various Melodies published in Dziesmu rota, ii, 86–9.Google Scholar

78 ‘Pee weenas grahmatas turrotees, warreşim jo weeglak weenreis wişşi kohpâ weenus swehtkus swehtiht, tà weenprahtibu, mihlestibu un tautas isplaukşchanu kohpt un zaur tahdeem augl̦eem wişşeem parahdiht, ka muhşu dseeşmas wairs naw blehn̦u dseeşmas, bet Deewam patihkamas gohda dseeşmas no kurrahm arri Wahzsemmê şcho laiku brahl̦u draudse neatraujahs.’ Cimze, ‘Dseeşmu rohta’, 142.Google Scholar

79 This figure, presumably based upon ticket sales, is provided in Tomsons, ‘Sin̦as par Latweeşchu dseedatajeem un win̦u pirmeem wispahrigeem dseedaşchanas-şwehtkeem’.Google Scholar

80 For a detailed discussion – published in the Soviet Union but relatively free of Marxist-Leninist explication – of many documents relating to the reception of Cimze's work up to 1879, see Berzina, Vizbulite, Tautas muzikala atmoda latviešu publicistu skatijuma (Riga, 1983), 56–91.Google Scholar

81 ‘Şchajâs şkan̦as mehs klauşam şawas tautas şeno likteni, preekus, behdas, gaudas un lihgşmibu… . Tautas win̦as zaur dseedaşchanu glabaja kà şwehtu mantu un tahs atstahja mums, winas manteneekeem.’ ‘Klnn.’, ‘Dseeşmas un dseedaşchana’, Baltijas vēstnesis (15 November 1872), 365–6 (p. 365).Google Scholar

82 ‘Ja dseedaşchana ir tautas isglihtoşchanas lihdseklis – un wina ir wişu şarrigakais tautas gara, şirds un prahta dail̦otais – tad gan nahkahs par winas selşchanu un augl̦oşchanos ruhpigi puhletees.‘ Ibid., 366.Google Scholar

83 ‘Ka tahs dseeşmas: 22., 26. un 30. Latweeşchu dseeşmu starpâ usn̦emtas, par to mums teeşcham jabrihnahs. Kadehl̦ tad Latweeşcham Wahzu &ginvaps;eneralis jausşlawe un win̦a leeliha jaapdseed? Andreaşa Hofera, kà dedsiga tehwijas mihl̦otaja apdseedaşchana buhtu gan aisbildinajama, ja Latweeşchu tautai, preekşch kur̦as şchahs dseeşmas ihpaşchi gahdatas, nebuhtu Hofera liktens gluschi sweşchs.‘ Ibid.Google Scholar

84 ‘Şchè mums nahk prahtâ, ko reis wezs wihrs teiza: “Dseed ko dseed, bet dseed alasch kas der dseedaht.”‘ Ibid.Google Scholar

85 ‘Pehz Klnn. k. rehk̦ina mums nepeenahkahs muhsu behrneem ne par Mohsu stahstiht, ne par Abraämu, jo tee nejiba Latweeşchi, bet – schihdi.’ Cimze, ‘Par dseeşmu şijaşchanu’, Mājas viesis (27 January 1873), 30.Google Scholar

86 ‘Dsimtibas laikôs Latweeşchi tik dsil̦l̦i bija krittuşchi şawâ apsinnaşchanâ par zilweku un tautu laizigu wehrtibu, ka dsil̦l̦aki wairs newarreja… . Taggad no şcha dsil̦l̦a grahwa israhpuşchees, Latweeşchi şahk staigaht pa zeetu zel̦l̦u un şawas tautas behrnus zeeniht, un mahzitajus ihpaşchi no şawejeem zelt. Bet katram zel̦l̦am irr abbejâs puşşês grahwji, un daschu reis dsil̦l̦as behres, ja zel̦şch pats irr augsts. Lai nekriht nu ohtra puşşê atkal grahwî, un tas notiks, ja Latweeşchi şew paşchus ween şahks laisiht un butşchoht, şweşchu tautu wihrus un şweşchus tautu augstaku buhşchanu un kulturu atbihdidami un nizzinadami.‘ Ibid.Google Scholar

87 ‘Juhs şakat: “Dseedoht jau neapdseed ne Wahzeeşcha, ne Wahzeetibas, bet zilweka leelus darbus” u. t. pr. Kad nu es pehz Juhşu konsekwenzes tahl̦ak eetu, tad es tà şpreestu: Blüchera dseesma mums ir; naw jal̦aunojahs, kad tagad tahds Latwju dehls pahrtulko “Prinz Eugen der edle Ritter” un Latweeşchi dseed şcho dseeşmu, nu! aisbildinadamees, ka win̦eem zitu jeb labaku naw. Eşam şcho dseeşmu isdseedajuşchees un win̦u apnikuşchi, tad k̦erşimees atkal pee “Was ist des Deutschen Vaterlands” pahrtulkoşchanas; tad pahrtulkoşim un dseedaşim “Deutşchland ist mein Vaterland” un “Es geht ein Ruf wie Donnerhall.”’ ‘Klnn.’, ‘Par dseeşmu şijaşchanu’, Baltijas vestnesis (21 February 1873), 56.Google Scholar

88 ‘Cimze…salidzināja latviešu tautu ar to māsu, kur̦ai “trejādi bālenin̦i” “kala pūru”, un vienu no tiem “bālenin̦iem” ar “vācu skolām”, otru ar Baltijas muižniecibu un trešo laikam ar Rīgas pilsētu.’ Matīss Kaudzīte, Atminas no ‘Tautiskā laikmeta’ un vin̦a aizgājušiem darbiniekiem (Cēsis and Riga, 1924), i, 237.Google Scholar

89 Here Kronvalds – or the witness, Kaudzite – appears to play upon the title of the Latvian folksong Riga dimd (Riga Resounds), an arrangement of which, by Cimze, was performed at the 1873 festival concert.Google Scholar

90 ‘Cimze nepareizi piešk̦iris vācu skolām to nopelnu, ka tagad “Riga dimd” no latviešu dziesmām, jo vācu skolas pastāvot ilgus laikus, bet neesot izaudzējušas nevienu tādu latvju tautas svētku, tāpec īstais gods piekrītot latviešu mātēm, Rīīgas latviešu biedrībai un pār visu kopā latviešu tautas garam, ko katrs bērns iezīdis no mātes krūtim un san̦ēmis ar pirmām vārdu skan̦ām no mātes lūpām – savas tautas valodā. Šis tautas gars pastāvējis tik varens un spēcīgs, ka pat seši simti gadus garais verdzības laiks nevarējis vin̦a pavisam nospiest. Vin̦š palicis dzīvs caur visiem grūtiem kalpošanas laikiem un tagad, brīvības saules siltumā, rādot savu nenomākto spēku ar atjaunotu sprigtumu, ka dziedātājiem un dziedātājam bijis iespējams tik dedzīgi un ar tik košām sekmēm sarīkoties uz šiem dziesmu svētkiem. Šis nemirstīgais tautas gars sākot nu dzīvot no jauna latviešu sirdīs un esot īstenais vin̦u sapulcinātājs uz šiem diženiem svētkiem. Vin̦š skanot iz mūsu tautas dziesmām, iz šā mūžigi nemirstošā tautas gara avota.‘ Kaudzīte, Atmin̦as, i, 237.Google Scholar

91 Ibid., 239.Google Scholar

92 Kārlis Baumanis, ‘Dseeşmu rota jaunekl̦eem un wihreem: Treşcha dal̦a. Lauka puk̦es’, Baltijas vēstnesis (30 October 1874), 343–5 (p. 344). It should be noted that Baumanis might just as easily have levelled this criticism against Cimze's first volume of Latvian folksong arrangements.Google Scholar

The text of the Song of the Recruit discussed in the third section of the present article, for instance, relates to events surrounding the Russo-Turkish wars of the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries. Moreover, the story narrated in I am a Poor Orphaned Child appears, in various guises, in traditional songs sung thoughout Central and Eastern Europe. Despite the fact that these songs were collected from the Latvian ‘folk’ of Cimze's day, neither was, most likely, of ‘purely’ Latvian origin. I wish to thank Guntis Šmidchens and Annegret Fauser for drawing my attention to this fact.Google Scholar

93 ‘Juhs paşchi, zeenigs Zimses k., ar şaweem paşcha wardeem Latw. t. dseeşmas, iten meldijas (= musikas dwehşeli), atsihstat par dahrgu, mihl̦u, jauku un wezu şentehwu mantu; bet kad nu Juhşu krahjuma meldijas şchk̦irtas kreewişkâs, wahzişkas un nesin zik zişkâs – kas turklaht nemahksligi şalaşitas – kà tad pahr tahm şpreest?‘ Ibid.Google Scholar